[1] The site currently occupied by the corn exchange on the north side of Fore Street originally accommodated a gaol which dated from around 1702 and which had been demolished in 1777 to make way for a butchers' market.

The new building was designed by William Hill of Leeds in the neoclassical style, built in ashlar stone and was completed in 1859.

The entablature was inscribed with the words "Corn Exchange and Public Hall", while the pediment containing a circular panel bearing a carving of a hart in the tympanum.

[6] The use of the building as a corn exchange declined significantly in the wake of the Great Depression of British Agriculture in the late 19th century.

[8] At the apex of the pediment there was originally a statue of the Roman goddess of agriculture, Ceres, but this was removed during the Second World War to prevent it causing injury to passers-by during German bombing.